Thursday, October 31, 2013

A Polish archbishop has cautioned that Halloween celebrations violate
Church teaching and urged Catholics not to take part “even in playful
form.”

Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Łódź said: “This is a fundamentally
anti-Christian festival. Parents and teachers should protect youngsters
against its images of terror and dread, especially when many already
associate it with the cult of Satan.”

Polish Catholic leaders have been trying to foster alternatives to
Halloween, which has been marked in Poland since the 1989 collapse of
communist rule.

In a pastoral letter to his archdiocese, Archbishop Jedraszewski said
Poland was “already seeing a clear reversion in the Western world, as
well as in Poland, to pagan practices.”

He said that All Saints’ Day and
All Souls’ Day had “long traditions” in Poland and were worthy
Christian occasions for “praising God and honoring those who came
before.”

“Introducing children, and sometimes adults, to Halloween practices
is a violation of church teaching. Christians should not take part, even
in playful form,” he said.

He added that, instead of celebrating Halloween, local Catholics
should commemorate up to 20,000 youngsters who died at the only Nazi
concentration camp for children, which operated in Łódź from 1942 to
1945.

A Catholic presenter with Polish Radio, Malgorzata Glabisz-Pniewska,
told Catholic News Service data suggested that Poles’ interest in
Halloween was now declining.

“Post-communist countries like ours went through a phase when
everything from the West seemed better,” she told Catholic News Service
yesterday.

“Many people dislike Halloween now, not because of any link
with Satanism, but because it’s an imported custom alien to our culture.
It would be better if the church just left it to die naturally.”

For the first time in history, the entire class of one Italian high
school opted out of an elective on Roman Catholicism earlier this month,
reopening a long-standing debate over whether state money should be
used to fund a class that focuses on a single faith.

Church
attendance in Italy has been declining for years, but the country
remains — at least on paper — the most Catholic in Europe. It is also a
focal point for the world’s Catholics, as the home of the Vatican and
the papacy.

That is what made the decision at Christopher Columbus High School in the northern port city of Genoa so unusual.

Until
1986, a course on Catholicism was obligatory for students. Now they can
opt out of what is called the “Ora di religione” (religion hour), but
most — around 91 percent, according to sources — take the course, which
focuses on church history and traditions.

That’s around the same
percentage of Italians who consider themselves Catholic (of those, 30 to
40 percent identify as “active” Catholics). Yet despite the apparent
popularity of the course, critics wonder why state-run schools are
funding the class.

“It would be easier for me to understand this
course if it was a survey of world religions, or a course on
spirituality or ethics,” said Fabio Milito Pagliara, a teacher and
official from Italy’s Union of Atheists and Agnostics. “What about a
course on citizenship? I just don’t think the state should be in the
business of endorsing one specific faith.”

According to the
Rome-based polling firm Opinioni, those who agree with that point of
view are on the rise in Italy — though they remain a relatively small
minority. Fifteen years ago, little more than one in 10 Italians thought
the “Ora di religione” was in need of reform. Now, nearly one in four
do, said Opinioni co-director Maria Rossi.

Supporters of the course say it is important because the Catholic Church is so dominant in Italy.

“The
course isn’t trying to convert anyone, and if you live in Italy you
will not understand the country unless you understand the Catholic
Church,” said Nicola Incampo from Cultura Cattolica, which provides
church-related information resources to schools. “You don’t have to be
Catholic for that to be important.”

The secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and
Societies of Apostolic Life said in an October 29 address that over
3,000 men and women religious leave the consecrated life each year.

In
the address – a portion of which was reprinted in L’Osservatore Romano –
Archbishop Jose Rodriguez Carballo said that statistics from his
Congregation, as well as the Congregation for the Clergy, indicate that
over the past five years, 2,624 religious have left the religious life
annually.

When one takes into account additional cases handled by the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the number tops 3,000.

The
prelate, who led the Order of Friars Minor from 2003 until his April
2013 curial appointment, said that the majority of cases occur at a
“relatively young age.”

The causes, he said, include “absence of
spiritual life,” “loss of a sense of community,” and a “loss of sense of
belonging to the Church” – a loss manifest in dissent from Catholic
teaching on “women priests and sexual morality.”

Other causes
include “affective problems,” including heterosexual relationships that
continue into marriage and homosexual relationships, which are “most
obvious in men, but also present, more often than you think, between
women.”

The world, the prelate continued, is undergoing profound
changes from modernity to postmodernity – from fixed reference points to
uncertainty, doubt, and insecurity.

In a market-oriented world,
“everything is measured and evaluated according to the utility and
profitability, even people.”

It is “a world where everything is soft,”
where “there is no place for sacrifice, nor for renunciation.”

While Russia’s predominant
Orthodox Church has long implicitly backed the campaign against
homosexuals, smaller faith groups, including the Catholic Church, have
said nothing against it and done little to help its victims.

On the verge of an urban roundabout, hemmed in by a battered fence,
crop-haired youths brandishing baseball bats surround a young man in an
orange T-shirt.

Moments later, the youngster lies gasping and pleading
on the ground, as a thick knee is pressed to his neck and heavy boots
kick at his torso.

The video bears the slick logo of Occupy Pedofilyaj, a
Russian vigilante group, and is just one of dozens posted on the
internet to frighten gays and lesbians.

They provide chilling images of the hardships facing homosexuals in
Russia and neighbouring ex-Soviet republics, which have prompted calls
for foreign sanctions and a boycott of next February’s Winter Olympics.

'While the Catholic Church is against homosexual practices, it also
opposes homophobia,' explained Mgr Igor Kovalevsky, secretary-general of
Russia’s Catholic bishops’ conference.

'But homosexuality is a totally
marginal issue in Russian society. There’s no great interest in it here
and very few homosexuals in our Catholic communities.'

Homosexuality was de-criminalised in Russia in 1993, two years after
the collapse of Communist rule, and removed from the list of mental
illnesses in 1999.

But pressure against gays and lesbians has been
growing, while violent assaults, often documented and filmed, are
routinely ignored by the police.

This year alone, while brutal murders
in Volgograd, Kamchatka and other areas have instilled a climate of
fear, according to human rights groups, the Russian Army has issued new
guidelines for dealing with homosexual recruits, and plans have been
laid for nationwide screening of homosexuals to prevent HIV.

European
Union surveys rank Russia alongside Muslim countries as among the least
tolerant of homosexuals.

With no law against sexual discrimination, few
public figures have ever declared their homosexuality, while victims of
harassment have no confidence in the authorities and rarely reports
acts of violence.

The CEO of the Truth Justice
and Healing Council has written to more than 1,500 Catholic priests and
women and men from religious orders encouraging support for the
activities of Blue Knot Day.

Blue Knot Day and other activities will conclude this
Sunday, November 3. The week’s activities are part of an annual
awareness campaign coordinated by the victims of child sexual abuse
group, Adult Survivors of Childhood Trauma.

TJH Council CEO
Francis Sullivan said Blue Knot Day is an important event that focuses
on the damage done to victims of child sexual abuse. 'This year’s Blue
Knot activities are focused on recovery and spreading the message to
both survivors and all community members that with the right care and
support, recovery is possible,' Mr Sullivan said.

'It is
important all members of the community, and particularly members of the
Catholic Church, do whatever we can to help victims and survivors.'

The Archdiocese of Brisbane
has produced a new mobile app which advises the details of the next (by
time) and nearest (by location) Mass to the user, wherever they may be
in the diocese, reports the Archdiocesan website.

It means Brisbane Catholics need never ask 'what time’s Mass on?'
again as the app uses a GPS locator to provide the user with upcoming
Mass options within a geographical radius.

The smart phone and tablet
app is free and available for both iOS and Android devices.

Its genesis came from Archdiocesan website feedback, wherein numerous
requests had been made to group and order the ‘Find a Mass’ information
by time of day rather than by parish.

Brisbane Archdiocesan Web
Developer Matt Cassidy has spent the past five months building and
testing the app and said he was pleased to have finally found a solution
to this recurrent request.

'The governing principle I kept in mind when working on the project
was that an app should do one thing and do it well,' Mr Cassidy said.
'Basically it connects the public with the key locations and services
across the archdiocese by providing a searchable public directory which
makes heavy use of geographical location points. It’s timely to make it available now as we have a lot of visitors
who are soon to be travelling here for holidays over the Christmas and
New Year period.'

Asking
ourselves how we respond to the love of Christ, if it is a love like that of
Paul, for whom " no one can separate me from the love of Christ ," or
like "unfaithful" Jerusalem of which Jesus himself says, "you were unwilling
to be loved, and entrusted yourself to many idols, which promised you
everything and then abandoned you".

This is the question posed by
Pope Francis, who this morning celebrated Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, at the
altar of Blessed John Paul II's tomb. There
were more than a hundred priests and many faithful.

The
Pope commented on the readings of the day: the letter of St Paul to the Romans
where the Apostle of the Gentiles speaks of his love for Christ and the Gospel
of St. Luke in which Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, which did not understand it
was loved by him.

"In these readings - said
Francis - there are two things that strike us. First, Paul's certainty: ' Nothing
will be able to
separate usfrom the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' But he loved the Lord so much - because he had
seen him , he had found him, the Lord
had changed his life - he loved him so much that he said that nothing could separate
him from this love. Precisely this love
of the Lord was the center, the very center of the life of Paul. In persecution,
in disease, in betrayal, in his every experience, all these things that happened
in his life, none of this could separate him from the love of Christ. It was
the center of his own life, the point of reference: the love of Christ. "

"And without the love of
Christ, without experiencing this love, recognizing, nurturing that love, you
can not be a Christian: the Christian feels the Lord's gaze, that beautiful gaze,
loved by the Lord and loved
to the very end. feels ... the Christian feels that his life was saved by the
blood of Christ. And this is love: this is a loving relationship. That's the
first thing that really strikes me".

"The other thing that
strikes me is this sadness of Jesus, when he looks at Jerusalem. ' But you, O
Jerusalem, you who did not understand love'. It did not understand the
tenderness of God, with that beautiful image that Jesus depicts. It did not
understand the love of God : the opposite of what he Paul felt. But yes, God
loves me , God loves us, but it is something abstract, something that does not
touch my heart and arrange my life as
I can. There is no loyalty there. And Jesus' cry from the heart for Jerusalem
is this: ' Jerusalem , you were unwilling to be loved, and entrusted yourself
to many idols, which promised you everything and then abandoned you'. At the
heart of Jesus , the suffering of Jesus' love : a love that is not accepted ,
not welcomed".

"These two icons today: that
of Paul, who remains faithful to the love of Jesus to the end, with the
strength to go forward, to bear everything . He feels himself weak, a sinner,
but has the strength in that ' love
of God, in that encounter that he had with Jesus Christ. On the other hand, the
unfaithful city and its people, unfaithful, who do not accept the love of Jesus
, or even worse , huh? Who live this love but
only half way: a little ' yes, a little ' no, according to their own convenience.
Just look at Paul with his courage that comes from this love, and at Jesus who weeps
over the city, which is untrue. Let's look at Paul's faithfulness and
Jerusalem's infidelity, and at Jesus, his heart, who loves us so much. What do can we do? That is the question: Are
we like Paul or Jerusalem ? Is my love for God strong like that of Paul or my
heart a luke warm heart like that of Jerusalem? May the Lord, through the
intercession of Blessed John Paul II, help us to answer this question . So be
it . "

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh has just opened its
first online paper.

Launched on 27 October in cooperation with the Christian
Communication Centre, the website is named Pratibeshi
(Neighbours), after the oldest Bengali language Catholic weekly.

Founded in
1940, the paper is currently distributed in 30 countries.

For Pratibeshi editor Fr Joyanto Gomes, the online
edition "allows many users to read our news even on the internet." In fact,
"As the world changes, we must upgrade," he explained.

Hence, "We are going
down this path to have a direct contact with our readers."

The magazine's
new version will publish news about the Catholic Church, but also foreign news
as well as articles on cultural topics important for the Church of Bangladesh.

Pratibeshi's main goal is threefold: to present and
promote Christ's message and the Church's teachings through the new media;
stimulate, develop and raise spiritual, social, civil and economic awareness by
telling ordinary people's everyday experiences; and push Church personnel to
use the new forms of communication.

The
weekly is a member of SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication.

"I am happy to know
that Pratibeshi is also available
online," said Anthony Gomes Pius, a Catholic man from Dhaka. For him, "the
transition to a digital version offers the opportunity to reach more people."

For
Samual Purification, the Bishops' Conference did a great thing. The online edition
"will make it easier to read news and stories published by Pratibeshi."

“Corruption is theft from the poor," warn the Bishops of the South African Catholic Bishops' Conference.

In
a recently published Pastoral Letter dedicated to the scourge of
corruption, the bishops of the SACBC (which brings together the Bishops
of the South Africa, Swaziland and Botswana) point out that "Corruption
harms the whole community. When bribery becomes a way of life for civil
servants, business people or church personnel, their real
responsibilities are put aside in pursuit of making money for
themselves”.

And the document continues, outlining how
corruption leads us to become cynical about each other, to distrust the
people we regard as our leaders and as honorable people.

The
President of the SACBC, Cape Town Archbishop Stephen Brislin, spoke to
Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni about the Pastoral Letter which he says,
was triggered by the need to address what is an enormous issue, around
the world and in South Africa…

Archbishop
Stephen Brislin says that there have been a number of cases in his
country which have brought corruption to the fore, and in a country
where there are many many poor people, the issue is perhaps even more
poignant.

Quoting from the Pastoral Letter itself: “Corruption is
theft from the poor. Money diverted into the pockets of corrupt people
could have been spent on housing for the homeless, on medicine for the
sick or for other needs. Aid should reach those it is intended for”. So,
Archbishop Brislin points out “unless we are able to root out
corruption in our society and in our country we are stealing from the
poor, we are preventing the advancement of poor people, we are
preventing poor people reaching their full potential as human beings”.
“Corruption – he explains – is endemic; it is at every level of society,
and therefore we have to look at it in the broadest possible way”.

The
document includes a quote by Pope Francis in which he says that
corruption is worse than other sins, because when it becomes a habit it
hardens the heart. Archbishop Brislin says he thinks this is very
true:“it is a very selfish action. It is saying I want to enrich myself,
I want to enjoy the benefits and the fruits that other people can’t
have”. So he says: “it harms the whole community. It is a poison, an
evil that must be eradicated from the whole of society”.

The
Archbishop confirms that the bishops of Southern Africa have called on
their people to embrace the international ecumenical “Exposed” Campaign –
which calls individuals to take action and in fact indicates that
corruption is a universal issue.

And Archbishop Brislin says
that this Letter is a way of preparing for the upcoming April elections
that mark 20 years of democracy in South Africa. However he reveals the
bishops will be issuing another Pastoral document in celebration of
that event. “What we would like for people in SA to do is to consider
very carefully when they are going to the polls who should be voting for
in terms of issues and the issues which affect our country”.

The
Archbishop also comments on the part of the letter in which the bishops
call on members of the Church to examine their attitudes, he says that
Church members must be stewards of the donor money they receive for
projects, so “we have got to make sure we have the right processes in
place, the right systems in place to ensure there is no corruption, and
should there be a case of corruption, that we immediately take the
right action”.

Pope
Francis received the members of the St Peter’s Circle on Thursday in
the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican.

The Circolo San Pietro as it is
known in Italian was founded in Rome in 1869 through the efforts of a
group of enthusiastic young men from the families of Roman nobility, who
desired to witness to the world their fidelity to the Pope and to
defend him during a difficult moment in the history of the papacy.

Today
the Circle is essentially a charitable sodality: members distribute 50
thousand meals every year in three kitchens in various parts of the city
of Rome; they offer family-style hospitality to parents whose children
are admitted for care at the “Bambin Gesù” pediatric hospital, as well
as to needy young women studying at university; the circle also
distributes new clothing items to those in need through parishes,
religious communities and other charitable organizations.

In his
remarks to members on Thursday, Pope Francis thanked them for their
continued support of the Pope and their work in favor of the poor, as
well as for the special collection campaign called “St Peter’s mite”,
which the circle makes for the Pope in Roman parishes each year.

“Dear
friends,” said Pope Francis, “continue to be a visible sign of Christ’s
charity toward those who find themselves in need – both in the material
and in the spiritual sense – and also to the pilgrims who come to Rome
from all around the world.”

Francis has set 22 February 2014 as the date for the first Consistory
for the creation of new cardinals.

Fr. Federico Lombardi announced
this, adding that the group of eight cardinals Francis appointed to
advise him on Curia reform a few days before this.

The Synod council,
meanwhile, will be meeting shortly after the Consistory.

The Pope announced his decision to hold a Consistory for the creation
of new cardinals on 22 February during his meetings with the Council
Council of the Synod of Bishops and the Council of eight cardinals
appointed to advise him on Curia reform (the G8).

The work schedules of
the two bodies will naturally take the Consistory into account.

The G8
will hold their third meeting just a few days before the Consistory
and the Council of the Synod will meet a few days after it.

The
15-member Council on economic reform should meet a week before the
Consistory

On 22 February the Church celebrates the Feast of the Chair of St.
Peter the Apostle.

This is the date traditionally chosen for the
celebration of Consistories for the creation of new cardinals.

Every
Thursday morning, a group of Polish worshippers takes part in a Mass
celebrated in the St Sebastian Chapel.

This week, the Mass was
celebrated by Pope Francis himself.

In his homily, the Pope focused on
the love of God, and on two powerful images illustrating the two
different ways in which this love might be received.

On the
one hand, he said, we have the certainty of the apostle Paul: “no one
can separate me from the love of Christ”.

Paul lived through
persecution, through illness, through betrayal, but the love of Christ
was always at the centre of his life.

On the other hand, Pope Francis
continued, we have the sadness of Jesus as he looks upon Jerusalem, the
unfaithful. And the heart of Jesus wept for this city that didn’t
understand the love of God, for this love that was not received.

Pope
Francis contrasted the two images – Paul, who feels he is a sinner, but
finds strength in the love of God, and Jerusalem, with its people who
don’t accept the love of God, or worse, who half accept it, depending on
their own convenience.

So let us ask ourselves, Pope Francis concluded –
do I have a strong love, like Paul, or do I have a tepid heart, like
Jerusalem?

A half-century after his passing, the deeds of a heroic Irish priest
who helped saved thousands of people in Nazi-occupied Rome during the
Second World War are still talked about.

And
yesterday, the 50th anniversary of his death, a monument to Monsignor
Hugh O’Flaherty was unveiled in his hometown, Killarney, Co Kerry,
before a gathering that included international representatives.

However, the warmest applause came from several hundred local people
when black and red cloaks were lifted to reveal a 2m bronze statue of
the renowned humanitarian.

His story is told as a backdrop to the sculpture, with replicas of the various honours he received.

Credited with saving more than 6,500 people from certain death, he
became known as the Pimpernel of the Vatican and his achievements have
inspired several books and films.

At the ceremony were family and friends, as well as international and
local dignitaries, including assistant attache at the US Embassy George
Sands, Canadian ambassador Loyola Hearn, British ambassador Dominick
Chilcott, the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Charles John Brown, and Nurit
Tinari-Modai of the Israeli Embassy.

Representing the O’Flaherty family were a nephew and niece of the
monsignor’s, former Supreme Judge Hugh O’Flaherty and Pearl Dineen.

Colonel Sam Derry was the monsignor’s second-in-command in the Rome
escape line and his son William was present with his wife Marion.

Also there were Mo and David Sands, grandchildren of Henrietta
Chevalier, who operated a safe house in Rome and who worked closely with
the monsignor.

Hugh O’Flaherty said his uncle would have been astonished that people
would have taken so much trouble to present such a wonderful monument in
his home town.

He also said his uncle loved simple recognition, meeting people and
being recognised. He also loved walking through Killarney and stopping
for chats. “Recognition was important to him, in a simple way,’’ said Mr
O’Flaherty.

The statue was unveiled at Mission Rd by Killarney mayor Paddy Courtney
and a grove of trees has also been planted in the monsignor’s honour.

Chairman of the O’Flaherty Memorial Committee Jerry O’Grady said the
unveiling was the culmination of five years of fund-raising. “We hope
that the sculpture will tell the monsignor’s story in a meaningful way
and inspire future generations to act selflessly and never turn their
back on people who need help,’’ he added.

The Hugh O’Flaherty Memorial Week continues until Sunday and the
O’Flaherty Humanitarian Award will be presented posthumously, on
Saturday night, to Donal Walsh, the Tralee teenager who raised money for
cancer treatment and worked to prevent suicide among young people.

Concern in Fine Gael has forced Taoiseach Enda Kenny to delay a
Cabinet decision on whether to hold a referendum on extending marriage
rights to same-sex couples.

In a setback for Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, ministers did not discuss the
issue yesterday, despite confident expectations from Labour that the
constitutional poll would be approved at the meeting.

Mr Kenny pushed the decision back to next week’s Cabinet as he sought to
shore up support for the move among Fine Gael backbenchers shaken by
the rifts caused by the X Case legislation.

The Taoiseach is to launch a telephone diplomacy effort to assure his
party’s TDs that they are not being railroaded into a referendum by
Labour.

He has particular concerns about six TDs who have serious reservations
about the referendum move, and a senior party source said: “There is no
harm for Fine Gael to see the Taoiseach halting Gilmore’s gallop on this
for a week.”

With the date for a referendum still to be ironed out, Labour TDs are
keen for new legislation on parenting and adoptive rights to be pushed
through quickly by Justice Minister Alan Shatter as they fear anti-gay
marriage campaigners would use that issue to “hijack” the focus of a
constitutional poll on marriage equality.

Mr Gilmore is keen for the reforms regarding adoption by same-sex
couples to be passed by the Dáil before a referendum and has shifted his
call for a vote to be held next year to early 2015 as a result.

The Taoiseach, who again refused to say whether he was in favour of or
opposed to gay marriage, denied that his party was split on the issue.

“I have made it clear that the party that I lead was the party that
introduced the civil registration facility as a major piece of progress
for gay people,” said Mr Kenny.

Unease among Fine Gael TDs over a gay marriage referendum has heightened
after the divisions triggered by legislating for the X Case which saw
five TDs and two Senators expelled from its parliamentary ranks.

Ruairi Quinn, the Labour Education Minister, has stated he believed
there would be a referendum on same sex-marriage in early 2015.

The constitutional convention decided by a margin of four to one that such a referendum should be held.

Labour had expected the Cabinet to back the move yesterday, but leave
the issue of a choice between holding it in October next year, or Mar
2015, until the spring.

Mr Gilmore has stacked a lot of his political credibility on pushing
through a gay marriage referendum as soon as possible after he branded
it the “civil rights issue of this generation”.

Labour sources said they were confident Cabinet would agree the move
next week after Mr Kenny was given time to try and bring more of his
backbenchers on board on the issue.

New
South Wales (NSW) lawmakers have been bombarded with emails from group
Christian Snippets Australia claiming that this month’s catastrophic
bushfires were a warning from God to back down on plans to allow same-sex couples to marry in the state.

Christian Snippets Australia warned that recent ‘bushfires and gale
force winds’ were a ‘prelude’ to what would happen if a bill to legalize
same-sex marriage is passed by the NSW Upper House.

Christian Snippets Australia warned NSW lawmakers that the fires had
been ‘a final attempt to avoid the foreboding disasters that God will
bring down upon your own head, and upon the heads of many others, should
this Bill be passed.’

The email warned NSW state Premier Barry O’Farrell to ‘quash the bill or be quashed’ himself.

Christian Snippets Australia have in the past warned that people are trying to promote ‘godless socialism’ in Australia.

O’Farrell declared a state of emergency 20 October with over 100
bushfires burning across the state though these are mostly under control
now.

The fires killed two people and destroyed 248 houses and it is estimated they caused nearly $100 million worth in damage.

In
this prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary, we ask the Virgin
Mary to help us to cultivate a habit of interior prayer
through the daily recitation of the rosary. This is the object of all of our
prayers: to arrive at the point where we can "pray without
ceasing," as Saint Paul tells us to do.

This
theologically rich prayer to Mary, the Queen of the Most
Holy Rosary, calls to mind our Blessed Mother's protection
of the Church - as, for example, at the Battle of Lepanto
(October 7, 1571), when the Christian fleet defeated the
Ottoman Muslims through the intercession of the Queen of
the Most Holy Rosary.

This
prayer for the Crusade of the Family Rosary was written
by Francis Cardinal Spellman, the cardinal archbishop of
the archdiocese of New York in the mid-20th century. The Family Rosary Crusade was originally
an organization, founded by Fr. Patrick Peyton, dedicated
to convincing families to recite the rosary together
daily.Today, we can pray this prayer to spread the practice of the daily recitation of the rosary. In that vein, it is especially appropriate to add this prayer to our daily prayers for the Month of the Holy Rosary.

Trials and doubts are part of everyone’s faith journey, “even mine”,
Pope Francis said today, but Christians know they can get through the
hard times with help from God, other Christians and those in heaven.

“Who hasn’t experienced insecurities, losses and even doubts in the
journey of faith?” the Pope asked. “It’s part of life. It should not
shock us because we are human beings, marked by fragility and limits.”

“Don’t be frightened” but ask for help, Pope Francis said at his
weekly general audience, talking about the “communion of saints” as the
Church prepared to celebrate the feasts of All Saints and All Souls.

In times of difficulty, the Pope said, “it is necessary to trust in
God through prayer and, at the same time, it’s important to find the
courage and humility to open yourself to others in order to ask for
help.”

“We are a great big family” through baptism, the Pope told the
estimated 50,000 pilgrims and visitors gathered for the audience in St
Peter’s Square. The communion of saints, he explained, refers not only
to those who have been canonised by the Catholic Church but to all the
baptised.

“The communion of saints goes beyond earthly life,” the Pope said.
“It extends beyond death and lasts forever” to find its fullest
expression when all believers are “reunited in heaven”.

“All the baptised here on earth, the souls in purgatory and the
blessed souls in heaven form one big family,” he added in remarks to
Polish pilgrims.

“This communion between heaven and earth is expressed
particularly in prayers of intercession, which are the greatest form of
solidarity, and is also the basis of the liturgical celebrations of the
feasts of All Saints and All Souls.”

Every Christian, the Pope said, has an obligation to be a responsible
part of the communion of saints, supporting other Christians in their
faith.

A believer’s communion with God and with Jesus must find expression
in communion with all those who also believe, he said. Those who truly
enter “the glowing furnace of the love” of God, love others because
God’s love “burns away our selfishness, our prejudices, our internal and
external divisions”, he said. “The love of God also burns away our
sins.”

Justice For Magdalenes (JFM) Research has hit out at the Government’s
response to UN criticism’s of the McAleese report as “an outrage” which
“beggars belief”.

Rapporteur
to the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) Felice Gaer wrote to the
Government in May criticising the McAleese report as “incomplete” and
lacking “many elements of a prompt, independent, and thorough
investigation”.

However, in a response from the Department of Justice issued in Aug, the
Government said the McAleese report “disproved” many of the assumptions
held about the Magdalene Laundries.

It was critical of the 800 pages of survivor testimony provided by JFM,
stating that “many of the general allegations relied on reports
unsupported by any direct knowledge and were not supported by the facts
uncovered by the McAleese committee”.

It also pointed out that JFM provided the testimony of 10 women and that
this contrasted with the “much larger sample of 118 women available for
the McAleese report”.

The Government also stated that there was an absence of “any credible
evidence of systematic torture or criminal abuse in the Magdalen
laundries”.

However, JFM Research said out that it submitted 22 testimonies, not 10,
to the McAleese Committee and offered to have all sworn. The group said
the committee told them that this was not necessary.

It also said the committee accepted written testimony from numerous
witnesses, but excluded written testimony submitted by JFM, including
for example the testimony of a former paid hand in the Galway Magdalene
laundry who detailed beatings, returns of ‘escapees’ by the gardaí and
the harsh conditions in which the women lived and worked.

The group also pointed out that of the 118 women interviewed by the
McAleese Committee, 58 of these were still in the care of and highly
dependent on the religious orders.

Human rights lawyer and JFM Research member Maeve O’Rourke said the
Government’s response to UNCAT contained “several inaccuracies”.

“One such inaccuracy is that the median duration of stay for known
entrants to the Magdalene Laundries was 27.6 weeks. In actual fact, the
substantive report, rather than the executive summary, reveals that
duration of stay was not recorded for 58% of known entrants to the
laundries,” she said.

JFM also pointed to Mr Justice Quirke, as part of preparing his redress
proposals, interviewed a much larger sample of 337 women, 288 of whom
provided information about their length of stay which tallied with JFM’s
assertions.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has said children who were
abused by priests must be remembered during any criticisms of the
Murphy report.

A
review of the inquiry has claimed individual priests and bishops would
not have been “under investigation” and named and shamed if the Murphy
Commission had stayed true to its terms of reference.

The new study, commissioned by the Association of Catholic Priests
(ACP), also accused the inquiry’s practices and procedures of falling
short of the requirements of natural and constitutional justice.

However, Archbishop Martin said one should never overlook the context
which gave rise to the establishment of the Murphy report, which rocked
the Catholic Church in 2009 when it revealed decades of abuse were
ignored because clerics were effectively granted garda immunity.

“A strikingly large number of children were sexually abused by priests within the Church in Jesus Christ,” he said.

“Anyone who loves the Church must be truly saddened by this fact.

“The children who were abused and their families and dear ones must be uppermost in our minds.”

The ACP said some priests of Dublin Archdiocese requested a study of
Judge Yvonne Murphy’s Investigation of Clerical Child Abuse in the
Archdiocese about 18 months ago.

The 42-page review by barrister Fergal Sweeney was presented to ACP members at their AGM in Athlone yesterday.

ACP spokesman outspoken cleric Fr Tony Flannery said priests discussed
the report and would not justify any abuse that took place, but believe
the procedures used were legally flawed.

“They were faulty in particular under the terms of reference in naming and shaming individual priests and bishops,” he said.

“These individuals were not given the basic human right that every citizen is entitled to — to defend their good name.”

Fr Flannery said that under the terms of reference Judge Murphy was investigating institutions and not individuals.

Mr Sweeney said the State was entirely justified in deciding to
investigate historical child abuse, but found the report dismissed out
of hand any reasons, explanations or mitigating circumstances put
forward by those clerics whom it names and shames.

“Individual clerics of the Dublin Archdiocese should not have been
‘under investigation’ if the Murphy Commission had stayed true to its
terms of reference,” he said.

The Association of Catholic Priests elected three new leading
spokesmen yesterday as rebel priest Fr Tony Flannery admitted there had
been “no change” on his ban on ministry.

Fr
Flannery, an outspoken member of the ACP since its foundation three
years ago, has been banned by the Vatican from ministry since spring
last year.

Yesterday he said that while Pope Francis had changed some things since
taking over, senior Church personnel instrumental in his ban from
ministry had been re-appointed.

Fr Flannery said he intended to step down as one of the ACP leaders in
the coming months, following a period of transition during which the
three new members can assume their roles and once another senior member
of the ACP, Fr Brendan Hoban, has recovered from a recent illness.

“My situation has not changed at all,” Fr Flannery said. Asked if the
election of Pope Francis had led to any changes in the level of
communication between Rome and the ACP, he said: “No is the simple
answer to that.”

He said Pope Francis had introduced a new movement in the church but the
head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had also been
reappointed.

So far there had been no communication between the Vatican and the ACP
and Fr Flannery said: “I am not holding my breath for that to change.”

It is understood as many as six priests in Ireland have been censured to
some degree by the Vatican but that Fr Flannery is the only one
prevented from ministry.

At yesterday’s AGM of the ACP in Athlone, Fr Gerry Alwill from Co Cavan;
Redemptorist priest in Cherry Orchard, Fr Gerry O’Connor; and
Augustinian parish priest in Finglas, Fr Seamus Aherne; were elected to
leadership roles.

The ACP estimates that it has 1,050 members, roughly one-third of all active priests.

The AGM heard discussion of an ACP review into the Murphy Commission
into clerical child sex abuse in Dublin which said it had “veered off
the tight rails” and instead concentrated “to an alarming degree on
‘naming and shaming those clerics whom the Commission found wanting in
child protection at the time.”

In
this prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary, we ask the Virgin
Mary to help us to cultivate a habit of interior prayer
through the daily recitation of the rosary. This is the object of all of our
prayers: to arrive at the point where we can "pray without
ceasing," as Saint Paul tells us to do.

This
theologically rich prayer to Mary, the Queen of the Most
Holy Rosary, calls to mind our Blessed Mother's protection
of the Church - as, for example, at the Battle of Lepanto
(October 7, 1571), when the Christian fleet defeated the
Ottoman Muslims through the intercession of the Queen of
the Most Holy Rosary.

This
prayer for the Crusade of the Family Rosary was written
by Francis Cardinal Spellman, the cardinal archbishop of
the archdiocese of New York in the mid-20th century. The Family Rosary Crusade was originally
an organization, founded by Fr. Patrick Peyton, dedicated
to convincing families to recite the rosary together
daily.Today, we can pray this prayer to spread the practice of the daily recitation of the rosary. In that vein, it is especially appropriate to add this prayer to our daily prayers for the Month of the Holy Rosary.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

A priest in the Central African Republic said Church leaders are
hoping to see concrete results from an archbishop’s appeal for an
international humanitarian mission and expansion of African Union
peacekeeping forces.

“The Church is acting as (the) voice of the voiceless in urging
international intervention as soon as possible, said Msgr Cyriaque Gbate
Doumalo, secretary-general of the Catholic bishops’ conference.

“Even
in the capital, many have no shelter and nothing to eat, while children
are sick and exposed.”

The archbishop said his nation was a
powder keg, adding that, since March, the rebel coalition Seleka had
expanded from 3,500 to 25,000 members, aided by child soldiers and a
“constant supply of weapons”.

He urged the UN to help establish an independent commission for
“credible elections” and an investigation by the International Criminal
Court into alleged crimes against humanity.

Last December, Seleka, which includes some Arab-speaking Islamists,
launched an offensive against President Francois Bozize and suspended
the constitution after seizing Bangui and then ousting the president in
March.

In a June statement, the bishops’ conference said Seleka’s occupation
had left the country “looted and destroyed” and its “social fabric
completely torn up.”

Msgr Doumalo said thousands of residents of Central African Republic
faced hunger and disease. He said 37,000 people had sought refuge at a
Catholic mission in the eastern town of Bossangoa after fighting between
Seleka forces and groups loyal to Bozize.

In September, the United Nations said that of the country’s 4.6
million people, 1.6 million were in dire need of assistance, including
food, protection, health care, water, sanitation and shelter.